AFC Notes: Marquise Brown, Patrick Mahomes, Tre Tucker, Chiefs, Raiders

Chiefs

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes said losing WR Marquise Brown for a portion of the season with a shoulder injury is a huge blow to the receiving core, but will give others an opportunity to step up. Brown appears to have already gained the trust of Mahomes on the field.

“I guess we’re lucky that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” Mahomes said, via PFT. “We lose a little bit of that veteran-type receiver in that room. We have other guys that can replace him a little bit, but to have that much talent and have a good understanding of what I want . . . hopefully we’re getting him back sooner rather than later. We’ve just got to keep pushing those young [receivers] to keep getting better and better every day.”

Chiefs

Chiefs DB coach Dave Merritt went through what he’s looking for at the second starting CB spot. 

“Same thing, you want a guy to step up,” Merritt said, via Ed Easton Jr. of the Chiefs Wire. “I mean, 35-Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams have played a lot of football for us. Nazeeh Johnson, of course, is coming back from a knee injury, but you want someone to step up and be able to claim that position and not have a guy rotating and always looking over his shoulder, and so, but we’re looking for the same thing, i echo what Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) said.”

Raiders

Raiders WR Tre Tucker had Lasik eye surgery in the offseason after he felt he couldn’t judge the ball properly. Tucker talked about how the surgery has helped him track the ball better on the field.

“When I looked at the end of my season last year, I was actually far-sided, so it was harder seeing things far away,” Tucker said, via Levi Damien of the Raiders Wire. “It wasn’t crazy but as a receiver, and you don’t have 20/20 vision, it’s very important that you do.”

“I would just say it’s the depth [perception]. When you’re seeing something far away, you don’t really know how fast it’s coming or where it is and [now I am] able to locate the ball faster. That’s probably what I’ve noticed out of getting it.”